retail therapy VI a design journal Charlie Cumming - PDE 4
contents
Contents brief 3
development 34
initial exploration
packaging 35
4
limitations 5
packaging dev
36
PDS 6
interim pres
37
initial concepts
7
interim & proto 1
38
idea I - material
8
proto 1 II
39
idea II - material
9
proto 2
40
idea III - form
10
proto 3
41
tutorial I
11
proto 3 ii
42
material - desserto
13
proto 4
43
desserto II
14
adjustmetns 44
experiments
15
proto 5
45
results & tutorial
16
final design
46
product analysis
17
final pattern
47
product analysis II
18
costing 48
wallet research I
19
branding 49
wallet research II
20
packaging dev
wallet concepts
21
poster 51
prototyping I
22
final poster
52
prototyping II
23
final images
53
prototyping III
24
shop upload
54
tutorial III
25
reflections 55
hinge ideas
26
thanks 56
development 28 tutorial & dev
32
development ii
33
50
brief
Outline of brief: • Design and make a gift-ware product • Initial batch of 10+ (negotiable) • Online most likely channel for sales • Luxury... • GSA/ PDE/ Engineering • Packaging/ Branding/ Presentation • Christmas ? • Project partners Hewlett Packard + Autodesk • All products to utilize between 30-100% digital during design/production • Access to HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing (2 prototype rounds) • £50 budget per person contribution to making costs (1 product for PDE collection) • GSA technical bureau service ? Deliverables: A3 Design Folio, including: Design Rationale Development process Designed Product Packaging/Images & Flavourtext for online sales channels Physical and digital models/protos 10 products for sale A3 Poster of product Thoughts on the brief: Timings:
This is a very open-ended brief. Unlike a lot of the other briefs that we have been given hasn’t got an issue or problem to solve, rather is far more creatively focussed. One way I could focus the brief would be to impose some limitations or constraints. This narrows the scope of the project, and allows a designer to create more ‘varied’ and ‘inventive’ solutions to a ‘problem’ [Stokes 2001].
Variability, Constraints & Creativity, P. Stokes, 2001 https://205.186.157.44/imats/MonetAmPsychologist.pdf
As well as this, due to limited access to GSA facilities such as the metal and casting workshops, material selection will be limited. Due to this, I will conduct research into different and alternate materials that are easy to manufacture with equipment I have access to, or can be manufactured externally to GSA.
So What?
What Now?
Explored and expanded the given brief. Looked in context of the current COVID situation and the possibilities and adaptations needed.
Define ‘Luxury’ Look into previous products as well as other examples of giftware Create limitation on project
initial exploration
What is Luxury?
Examples of products from the Design Museum shop. Material & Design led luxury. Sorted by most popular.
Dictionary definitions: ‘Luxury: great comfort, especially as provided by expensive and beautiful things’
Examples of 2019 PDE Collection Products: 1.
“Silinder” Desk tidy by Fergus Telfer - Recycled aluminium pipe, wood veneer. £26
2. Magnetic Key Holder by Fern Auld - Laser cut plywood with cast resin forms and stainless steel fixings. £35
‘Luxury goods: expensive things, such as jewellery and make-up, that are pleasant to have but are not necessary’ These luxury objects could differentiate themselves from the norm ergonomically, aesthetically or have an enhanced tactile quality. Furthermore, it could be reasoned that tailored, bespoke items signify luxury due to their rarity and the time and care put into their creation (see design museum shop examples). To further this, the attitudes of care and time could reflect in the material choice of the product, perhaps the decision to use more expensive materials that have less of a social and environmental effect on the planet.
3.
“Fragmented Man” - Jesmonite planter by Kristofer Mcleod - Cast jesmonite. £35
4.
“Modulo” - two part jesmonite desk tidy by Emma Williamson. - Cast terrazzon jesmonite. £42
5.
“FOLD” card holder by Kasim Ali - Leather with steel screw fastenings - £25
6. “OX” Noughts and Crosses game by Gerardo Lerma Molina - Cast resin and Laser Etched Slate. £45 7.
Examples of classic ‘luxury’ items
“Deconstructed” - Cantilever shelf by Juan Sanz De Bremond - Concrete and line bent brass. £47
Looking at the previous products, I noticed certain common themes: • Largely material driven. A lot of these products use one material as the centrepiece, often jesomite and seem to base their design around the constraints of the material. As well as this, these products seem to have few materials in total. This would cut down the complexity to manufacture.
Some items from the PDE Collection 2019
• Bright, high contrast colour schemes. This gives the PDE collection a modern, clean overall aesthetic This juxtaposition in colour or shade is often found in a difference in materials, rather than a difference in surface finish. This can be seen in‘OX’ by Molina, with the difference in both colour and texture between the cast resin of the pieces and he laser etched slate.
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dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/luxury gsapress.blogspot.com/2019/12/news-release-gsa-pde-students-unveil.html designmuseumshop.com/
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So What?
What Now?
• Identified similarities and themes between previous PDE collection products
• Explore available materials
• Defined and explored the concept of ‘Luxury’
• Start initial design ideas
• Create a set of limitations in the form of a PDS
limitations
Within the spirit of this project, I feel that it is OK to create arbitrary limitations in order to create a more interesting design, as well as make the project as fun as possible whilst keeping the project on track. As well as this I want to impose criteria that will differentiate my product from others whilst still conforming to the basic aesthetic of the PDE collection. Material Limitations: • No use of jesmonite. Whist I think jesmonite is a great material and there have been excellent precious PDE collection products, I feel that the material has been used to its limits and other materials can be explored. • Use of as many recycled/ recyclable materials as possible. As explored previously, luxury could mean spending money, time and effort on limiting the costs of the product to the earth. • As few different materials as possible. This will keep the product’s aesthetic in line with the PDE collection as well as lower the difficulty of manufacture. Design Limitations: • Think of manufacture for batch production during the design stage. Each element should be as easy to make in a small batch as possible, looking to both cut cost of manufacture as well as time and complexity. Time Limitations: • This is a short project, especially with the manufacture stage included for a two month deadline. This means that the design stage will be short, and important decisions will have to be made often with less information than would be wanted. This should be considered and timekeeping should be a focus.
So What?
What Now?
Looked at some limitations I can bring into this project.
From this build a PDS that I can use to generate design ideas.
Outlined some materials that I want to use, as well as some I don’t.
Create a time planning model. Possibly in the form of a GANTT chart.
PDS
PDS
Competition:
This is a working document outlining the requirements and constraints for a design. It will outline the market demands of a specific product.
Other design-focused giftware outlets such as museum shops and handmade gift websites.
This PDS is based upon the Jensen consulting template.
The product must include as high proportion of recycled material as possible. Aim to make sure the product is 100% recyclable or reusable, including designing for easy repair. All packaging must be 100% recyclable.
Performance: The product should serve a purpose, rather then be purely ornamental. This means my product will not add to the amount of useless items that inevitably go into landfill. Economy: £50 making budget from GSA, and 2 rounds of free, high end 3D printing from HP. Product should have midend artisan gift pricing in line with other PDE collection items. These usually range from £15 - £45 Customer: My potential customer would be wanting to purchase a relatively expensive, artisan gift. Due to this, they’d have a good amount of disposable income. Usually this would line up with 30-65 year old middle class adults. Furthermore, the customer would need enjoy product design, and design in general to be able to find the digital storefront of the GSA shop. They would possibly be local to Glasgow or a alumni of GSA.
Environment:
Dimensions: As the POS is online, the product should be able to be shipped. This means care must be given to make the product as light as possible, without sacrificing the tactility. Furthermore, design time should be given into looking into flat-packing and designing around standard shipping sizes.
giftware items, there should be an element of tactility and playfulness in the object. Appearance: The product should fit in with the clean aesthetic of the PDE collection. This could be done by using a limited material palette, as well as using strong contrast in black, white and greys. Packaging: The packaging should also conform to the aesthetic of the PDE collection, with use of laser cut recycled cardboard as well as the PDE collection 6 logo. Safety: The product should conform to relevant safety guidelines given its intended purpose.
Material: No jesmonite. Thought should be given to the tactility of the chosen materials, as well as the longevity. New and alternate materials should be researched, as this is a small scale production, non-traditional materials are easier to integrate. Ergonomics: The product should be pleasant to use. In order to stand out from other
So What?
What Now?
Defined the specification for a designed product
Now I have defined the specification to design to, I can create initial ideas.
Explored the potential of the target market and potential customers.
I’ll use material-led and form-led deign processes in order to generate a good range of ideas
initial concepts
idea I - material
Idea 1 - Recycled textile lampshade. I recently shrunk a whole washing load of clothes, leaving me with a substantial amount of textiles needing to be recycled. This idea would make use of them. Strips of recycled fabric are stretched over a wireframe with a mounting bracket secured in the middle so the shade can be used for either table lamps or ceiling lamps.
Observations With the current limited use of GSA workshop, it would be difficult to make a reproducible wireframe using conventional methods of either soldering or bending. I’d have to look into 3D printing brackets for corners and using regular prisms with straight edges. How suitable are the materials I have? Surely there’s an EU or ISO standard somewhere that prevents clothes from setting on fire from close proximity to a light bulb. Is a lampshade really giftware? I’m not sure I’d want to receive one as a gift. Could clothing be dyed to give a more vivid aesthetic - possibly tie dyed in order to look more natural?
idea II - material
Initial Material Ideas Pinatex A material made from by-products of the pineapple industry. The texture of the material is similar to leather, and takes coatings and textures easily. £45 for 1x1.55m
V-Textile The name VEGEA comes from the combination of VEG (Vegan) and GEA (Mother Earth). It was chosen to identify next generation of alternative materials to totally oil-based and animal-derived ones. Desserto Sustainable and environmentally friendly organic material made of Nopal cactus, also known as the prickly pear.
Malai
Idea 2 - Alternative leather products. I’ve always loved small, tactile objects such as wallets. They’re an item that is interacted with on a daily basis. A step towards a more sustainable future would be items we interact with daily not being made of animal products, rather use as much recycled and waste material as possible. This would normalise alternative materials and push people to think differently as to the environmental impacts of other choices in their lives, such as what they eat and how they travel.
Biocomposite material made from entirely organic and sustainable bacterial cellulose, grown on agricultural waste sourced from the coconut industry in Southern India
New, modern materials can not only mimic but exceed the tactility and longevity of traditional materials such as leather and cotton. Within this idea, I will explore the world of alternate materials, as well as look at objects within my daily life that could be transformed.
https://www.paperturn-view.com/supplycompass/supplycompass-leatheralternatives-guide?pid=OTQ94174&p=25&v=1.2
idea III - form
Idea 3 - Self-refilling pillar candle holder Taking a different approach to design, but this time working from a form based rather than a material based solution. Looking at the pillar candle on my desk, I noticed that there was a large amount of unburnt material clumped together at the bottom that was wasted, and wondered how it would be possible to re-use this. I have previously melted down and re-cast candles, and its a right pain. From this insight I developed a concept of a self-refilling candle - taking wax that would naturally fall down the sides of a pillar candle and
letting it flow into either an empty tea light or a bowl to be used as wax melts. However, I can see some problems within this design that will have to be tackled. • How to minimise the wax flow path so it won’t re-solidify causing a blockage • How to keep the holder at a temperature where wax can flow over it however not too hot to be able to be handled. • I will need to chose a material that is not porous to wax.
Tutorial 1 Comments In my first tutorial, I presented my initial ideas, hoping to narrow down my choices and come closer to deciding on a project to continue to work on. After discussions, we came to the conclusion that my first two ideas were the strongest, and that there were too many pitfalls to my candle holder idea due to the materials I proposed to use, as well as the general idea. I chose to leave this idea, as to be honest it didn’t interest me that
much and I thought I would be happier to put the time and effort to develop my other two ideas. I chose to co-develop these other two concepts until the next tutorial in order to inform my decision more. Within the next week I need to evaluate the possibility of each idea 1 and idea 2.
material - malai
Malai is ‘a newly developed biocomposite material made from entirely organic and sustainable bacterial cellulose, grown on agricultural waste sourced from the coconut industry in Southern India. [The company] work with the local farmers and processing units, collecting their waste coconut water (which would otherwise be dumped, causing damage to the soil) and re-purposing it to feed the bacteria’s cellulose production.’ - (malai.eco) This material looks promising as it comes in many different thicknesses, and seems to have been used for similar items before. My contact at Malai was initially very quick to respond and seemed very supportive of my project. However, the lead times of this material could be a problem, with up to 6 weeks predicted before delivery during the COVID19 pandemic.
(UPDATE) After a few weeks of contacting Veronica from malai and requesting material, I was left with no response to my messages. I therefore decided not to go with this material.
material - desserto
initial enquiry using desserto’s contact us page
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23/10/2020
Gmail - DESSERTO information
Charlie Cumming <charliec145@gmail.com>
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DESSERTO information
Gmail - DESSERTO information
3
CUSTOM DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTIONS
23/10/2020
Gmail - DESSERTO information
If you require a custom material (e.g. specific color, texture, backing, thickness, technical characteristics, etc.) your development will be subjected to a 300 linear meter MOQ.
3 messages
DESSERTO Aurora Vázquez <info@desserto.com.mx> To: "Cumming, Charles 2" <C.Cumming2@student.gsa.ac.uk>
23/10/2020
Fri, Oct 16, 2020 at 9:57 PM
*An A4 size sample will be built for your approval prior to production, development fee is USD 100.00 for aesthetics (per lab-dip or/and texture), if further technical characteristics need to be changed, costs may vary.
Hello!
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The contents of this email message and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee(s)
To proceed with the purchase order we need the following information:
and may contain confidential and/or privileged information and may be legally protected from disclosure. It is strictly forbidden to share any part of this message with any third party, without a written consent of the sender. If you are not the
Thank you for your interest in Desserto!
intended recipient of this message or their agent, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply email and then delete this message and any attachments. If you are not the intended recipient, you
SKU number Quantity by SKU: Recipient name: Address: Country: Recipient’s phone number: Tax ID (If applies)
Could you please provide us more information about your company and the desired applications of the material?
Here it’s more general information about us and our product.
are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, copying, or storage of this message or its attachments is strictly prohibited. Is it necessary to print this email? If you care about the environment like we do, please refrain from printing emails. It helps to keep the environment forested and litter-free.
El 16/10/2020 8:25 AM DESSERTO <notice@godaddy.com> escribió:
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION & PRICE LIST
** IMPORTANT NOTICE: This information will be used to create your waybill and invoice. Please, carefully fill out this information, since it will be used at customs. If your billing and shipping information are different, please advise. We are not responsible for anything held at customs due to these errors. **
Desserto® is a highly sustainable plant-based vegan-leather made from cactus, often distinguished by its great softness at touch while offering great performance for a wide variety of applications and complying with the most rigorous quality and environmental standards. The aim is to offer a cruelty-free, sustainable alternative, without any toxic chemicals, phthalates, and PVC. The result, Desserto®, the Cactus Vegan-Leather, is partially biodegradable and has the technical specifications required by the fashion, leather goods, furniture, and even automotive industries.
PAYMENT Once your requirements are confirmed, we will send you a quotation. When you approve the quotation, we’ll send you an invoice/proforma with the payment method. The payment can be done via PayPal or bank transfer, depending on the total amount of the invoice. Your quotation will expire within the following 5 days.
SHIPMENTS We can quote your shipment with our FedEx and DHL accounts offering preferential tariffs. Please note that the shipping costs are not included. If you prefer a different shipping method, we can support it as long as you schedule the collection directly to our warehouse/office.
The price shown in the catalog is EXW, by lineal meter 1 x 1.4 m.
OUR MINIMUMS The MOQ is established in the digital catalog.
Full name: Charlie Cumming
We can provide FCA/ CIF / DAP terms depending on your needs. We recommend using maritime shipping on purchases above 300 meters to save transportation costs.
Business name: Glasgow School of Art
If you need a shipment quotation, please advise your vendor when placing the order.
PROCESS OF PURCHASE Swatch- Books If you are a new customer, please define if you want to place a sample yardage order or purchase a swatch-book. Swatch-book price is USD 25.00 + Shipping.
Business address: 167 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G3 6RQ, Scotland Correo electrónico: c.cumming2@student.gsa.ac.uk
LEAD-TIMES
*Digital catalog is available upon request.
Phone number: 447745877545
Swatch-books 1 week after payment Sample yardage & In-stock purchase orders 1-2 weeks after payment Custom developments & productions 3-4 weeks after payment
How did you hear about us?: SupplyCompass Message: Hi there,
Best Regards
Sample yardage & in-stock purchase orders Sample yardage is only available for materials in stock and is NOT subjected to MOQ, you can either request our team to quote freight to your destination or provide your courier account. *We do not provide custom sample yardage. If you require custom yardage it will fall into the development category with a 300 linear meter MOQ.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=6b78d6e185&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1680743450274827935&simpl=msg-f%3A1680743450274827…
DESSERTO recibió un mensaje nuevo.
I'm Charlie, a 4th year Product Design Engineering masters student at Glasgow School of Art. I'm currently undertaking a project to design and produce a batch of items to be sold under the GSA PDE collection in time for Christmas 2020. I was looking at sustainable materials and I came across desserto - It's brilliant - I love the use of locally grown cactus and the way that you guys are reusing waste! It's also great that the material is safe to laser cut and seems fairly easy to work with 1/6
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=6b78d6e185&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1680743450274827935&simpl=msg-f%3A1680743450274827…
23/10/2020
2/6
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=6b78d6e185&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1680743450274827935&simpl=msg-f%3A1680743450274827…
Gmail - DESSERTO information
23/10/2020
either hand stitching or using a sewing machine.
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I would be looking at creating small products that would have normally be made from leather (such as wallets, or pencil cases), and taking a different more sustainable approach by tessellating patterns to reduce wastage and looking into the background of the materials and processes I end up with. Would you be able to recommend a thickness/type of your material that would work best?
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Gmail - DESSERTO information
processes - and in my opinion Desserto would be an amazing material to work with. I was wondering in your experience which type of Desserto would be the best for this project? (I was thinking of the 50/50 polycotton, however I love the green and red colour of the standard line). Yours
I was wondering what the lead time on either samples or lengths of Desserto would be if I went ahead with an order (I'm based in Glasgow, Scotland) and if there's any education or student discount on either the sheets or on the sample swatches? As I've approximated that I'd be needing between 1-2 meters to be able to both prototype and use for final manufacture.
Charlie Cumming c.cumming2@student.gla.ac.uk +447745877545 [Quoted text hidden]
aurora vazquez <info@desserto.com.mx> To: Charlie Cumming <c.cumming2@student.gsa.ac.uk>
Thank you so much for your time Looking forward to hear from you Charlie Cumming GSA PDE Y4 c.cumming2@student.gsa.ac.uk +447745877545
Mon, Oct 19, 2020 at 5:20 PM
Hello Charlie,
Dispositivo: desktop
I hope this email finds you well and thank you for your feedback! For your Project I recommend all the material with a “KNIT” backing.
Idioma: es-MX Meaning you can proceed with the green and red one.
Enviado de: Contact
For orders we require the
SKU
Responde este correo electrónico para contestar.
Meters per SKU Shipping address
Este mensaje proviene del formulario de contacto de tu sitio web, http://desserto.com.mx.
Kind regards,
Enviado a través de Páginas Web + Marketing
Desserto is a leather substitute material made primarily from nopal cactus. The material is partially biodegradable, and free from phthalates and PVC. It has similar technical specifications to regular leather. From my email conversations, I have managed to get my hands on a catalogue detailing their current material offerings. From this I intend to go through and select a material that would be most suitable. As well as this, I asked Aurora from desserto her opinion on the material and she suggested
using their ‘knit backed’ line due to the increased colour options. Furthermore, compared to other leather alternatives desserto has comparably short lead times, at only 1-2 weeks for a length of material or less than a week for a sample book.
Catalogue 2020 -10 INT(2).pdf 4555K Charlie Cumming <c.cumming2@student.gsa.ac.uk> To: DESSERTO Aurora Vázquez <info@desserto.com.mx>
Sun, Oct 18, 2020 at 5:31 PM
[Quoted text hidden] [Quoted text hidden] [Quoted text hidden]
Hi Aurora! Thanks so much for the quick response. I am currently a student studying Product Design Engineering at the Glasgow School of Art, and one of our projects this year is to create and sell a small batch product to add to a yearly product line (the PDE Collection - Previous examples of this project can be seen here http://gsapress.blogspot.com/ 2019/12/news-release-gsa-pde-students-unveil.html). This would consist of a batch of 10 handmade items to be sold primarily online through the University's website, however in previous years there have been in-person sales in shops throughout Glasgow.
[Quoted text hidden] [Quoted text hidden]
I am currently in the planning part of this project, looking at ideas to take forward. An idea that I'd like to pursue would be creating small gifts, that would usually be made of leather (such as a wallet) by using sustainable materials and https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=6b78d6e185&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1680743450274827935&simpl=msg-f%3A1680743450274827…
4/6
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=6b78d6e185&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1680743450274827935&simpl=msg-f%3A1680743450274827…
5/6
email chain of response
So What?
What Now?
• Contacted material companies
• Look further into the catalogue of desserto
• Made contacts if I decide to take this idea further.
• Do further research on idea 1
desserto II
From my contact with Aurora, I was sent the current desserto product catalogue. This outlines their current offerings, as well as some technical specifications of different product SKUs. As there was no way I could wait for more than one 2 week lead time on getting material, as well as the large cost of shipping from Mexico, it was important for me to chose the correct material the first time. I decided to create a decision matrix of different types of desserto, and consult with my tutor before ordering. Within this table, I chose to compare the thicker and versions of desserto, as this is the most similar to traditional wallet-making materials. I
Backing Woven 65% Polyester 35% Cotton
Colour/Finish Options Price Black, White $27/m ‘Freeport’ Texture
100% Cotton infused with cactus fibre
Black ‘Freeport’ Texture
$47/m
Desserto Original Bio
Woven 65% Polyester 35% Cotton
Black ‘Freeport’
$35/m
Desserto Knit Backed ‘Temporary Line’
50% Polyester 50% Cotton knitted back
Green, Black, $25/m Red, Dark Blue - ‘Helen’ Texture
Desserto Original Stiff
Desserto Biocactus
also needed to make sure I was not going to be ordering below the minimum ordering quantity of each SKU. Looking at the catalogue, I particularly liked the aesthetic of the ‘Freeport’ texture, as well as the green and red colours, as I thought they represented the ethos of the material well, and would carry over a sense of identity into a product created with the material. The catalogue also revealed the range of backing materials used throughout the product line. In line with the spirit of my project, I wanted to use the most eco-friendly backing I could.
MOQ 0
300LM
0
0
Decision This material would work well, however has limited colour choice. At a MOQ of 300 LM this material cannot be used This material is significantly more expensive than the others and I can’t really see a reason This material would have to be used carefully as not to expose the backing
So What?
What Now?
• Looked at material SKUs I would be able to use if I took idea 1 forward
• Order samples and test • Conduct market research into the use of wallets
experiments
In order to determine if using recycled t-shirt material would work as a lamp shade, I conducted an experiment into the transparency of the material as it was stretched across a light box. The tshirt I chose was originally a fruit of the loom heavy T. This shirt was 195gsm and made from 100% cotton. It was heavily worn at work for 5 months, so is a good example of a typical waste t-shirt. This was far from a scientific experiment, as I did not have a light meter, so had to create one myself. This was done by using an LDR, set into a paper cone (party hat) with a 5 output from an arduino. The effective resolution of this could be tuned by changing values of a pulldown resistor in the circuit. (see tinkercad diagram). For the level of light I was working with, 100kOhm would
have worked best resistor value. However I only had access to an old radio, within which I cobbled together a sting of assorted resistors that totalled 80kOhm. If I was to repeat this I’d either use a proper data logger with a light meter or a better home-made one.
been textile recycled. The flags were then stretched over the opening of the lightbox and held at no tension for 5 seconds, then stretched over 5 seconds until it was finally held at maximum tension for a further 5 seconds.
This light meter wasn’t calibrated to a lux value, however was accurate to itself so I can compare and contrast my results to a known base value. This stream of information updated every 250ms, and I was able to feed the date into excel and record a 15s interval. From this I was able to generate the graphs shown on the next page. I was looking at the difference in transparency of t-shirt transparency when stretched in different orientations. To do this, small sample flags were made from an old work tshirt that would have otherwise
the logging setup https://www.fruitoftheloom.eu/shop/heavy-t/
the process of making the test equipment
sacrificial work tshirt
So What?
What Now?
Conducted an experiment into the transparency of cotton
Analyse results
Built a light-meter that I can use in future
Possibly study more materials
Decide on the future of the project
Light transmittion over time for HORISONTAL WEAVE 900
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Looking at these results, its easily visible that light transmission increased with the tension of the material. On both material samples, I got a good quadratic trend when increasing the tension on the material sample linearly. However, this is not a strong enough correlation to draw conclusions as to the order from, as it is from a sample size of one with many potential errors in the method. From the graphs created I can tell the horizontal weave had less percentage difference between the maximum and minimum values, meaning that this would
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results & tutorial
Light transmission VERTICAL WEAVE
Light Transmittion No Material
have the least effect of dimming the light if used on a lampshade. However, this does not tell me about the dispersion of the light - arguably a more important factor when designing a light shade. If I decide to continue developing this concept, I could look to use more than one LDR in order to get light readings at different positions. This would tell me more about the dispersion and consistency of the light produced.
Tutorial 2 Comments At this point I was still struggling to choose between my wallet concept and my lamp shade concept, so I used the tutorial in order to test the waters with both ideas. I got an more positive reception to the wallet concept, with comparisons drawn to a previous project using new, plant based materials. However, the point was raised as to how I would incorporate the CAD aspect of the project into this. I felt that if I did the majority of my design work in Adobe Illustrator, this would count as being computer aided. The reception to my lampshade idea was less positive, with comments that it would look too ‘shabby chic’ and concerns over the fire safety of the fabric. I agreed that it wouldn’t fit in with the
classic aesthetics of the PDE collection in previous years but I disagreed that it would stand out to an unacceptable degree. However there were some positive comments, especially concerning the use of 3D printing to join the corners of the wireframe together. This left me with a choice. In the end I chose to develop the wallet concept further as I thought that it had more scope for development, as well as allowing me to work with materials I had never worked with before.
product analysis
My previous wallet - HDEASY Minimalist Mini Wallet Slim, £10.95 This wallet was the pinnacle of a flawed great design. Using it I loved the minimalism it provided - making sure you didn’t carry more than you needed to. It made use of three card slots as well as a money clip to carry up to 6 cards and a few notes and tickets. The wallet was generally also very satisfying to use, with a nice ‘flop’ to it as it opened. However, it did have a fatal flaw. Whilst the money clip was a fun novelty to use, it was far too stiff, meaning it was difficult to slide notes in and out, and on more than one occasion ripped a paper note. Traditional materials were again used, however this time the wallet uses
My Wallet - Next Popper Wallet, Leather, £15. Looking at my wallet, I was astounded at the amount of stuff I manage to keep in there. 13 Cards 10 Train tickets 3 Notes 2 Receipts 3 Coins One pack of hay fever tablets This wallet manages to keep these items and still slip into a pocket. However, I think that the
design facilitates hoarding of items. There were items in there I haven’t seen in months, due to the array of pockets and compartments allowing me to stow stuff away and forget about it. The wallet has a very traditional aesthetic and uses traditional materials and manufacturing techniques of machine stitched leather.
a more daring 2 tone design, with the money clip adding a nice silver accent. From this wallet design I want to take the principle that the design of product subconsciously dictates how it is used. Looking at the differences in these two wallets, I can see how the minimalist approach of the HDEASY - having fewer spaces to hide things forces the user to subconsciously decide to travel lighter, refuse receipts and transfer to a more digital, contactless cash system.
product analysis II
Wallet thickness comparison
Subject 1 - My flatmate Mari
Subject 2 - My flatmate Sophie
• 7 cards, 2 notes, 1 receipt, 0 coins, one DPD token
• 3 cards, 3 notes, 0 receipts, 5 coins, 0 other items.
• 2 Bank Cards, kept together in front pocket
• Each card had its own slot
• All other cards kept on inside of zipped main pocket • Cash folded into 4 and put inside zipped pocket • Receipts folded in 2 or crumpled and stored in side pocket Mari’s wallet was very small and compact, measuring not that much larger than a single card. However, it compromised on this small size by having very few features such as a single card slot. Mari paid approximately £8.
• Notes folded into quarters and put in centre zip pocket
Looking at the wallets of my flatmates gave me a better understanding of how other people use and organise their wallets. From this, I found that there are many different use-cases for wallets. I will further my research and conduct a public survey.
• Coins put on a specific side of the notes in centre pocket. Like Mari, Sophie used a slim wallet, however hers was the same height as a card but longer. It exhibited a simple, two tone design using different colours of soft leather. Unlike Mari’s the wallet had 4 external vertical card slots, and a large pocket on the other side. This was a slightly more upmarket brand and cost around £30
So What?
What Now?
Looked at some examples of wallets in use
Conduct a larger survey to back up my findings
Analysed the way in which cards and other objects are organised in wallets.
Find the average amount of cards/notes etc in a wallet.
wallet research I
Market Survey I conducted a survey into the current usage of wallets. By using an anonymous survey, I would be looking to find out what a typical user looks for in a wallet. The survey consisted of the following nine questions: • What is your approximate age? This multiple choice question broke age down into categories in order to get an insight into the changing of wallet use with the user’s age. • What features do you value most in a wallet? This tick-box question allowed users to check multiple things that they found important in wallet design, as well as add their own opinions in the form of an other box • How happy are you with your current wallet - This linear scale question was designed to show me the potential market for my product, as if people are already happy with their current
wallet, there’s no space for a new one on the market.
Results
• What, if anything would improve your current wallet? -This short answer question encourages people to air their gripes with their current wallet, showing me potential pitfalls in current wallet design. • How many cards/notes or tickets/coins do you usually carry in your wallet? - This set of three short answer questions would help me look at the size and features that are desirable in a wallet. • Is there anything else standout that you carry in your wallet? This short answer question was designed to catch any items that I didn’t originally think people would carry with them.
Initial Analysis I got a good reception to my survey, with 17 responses over 2 days. This produced some very useful data that I can use to influence my design decisions as well as outline a second, amended PDS. From my initial question, I found that a majority of my survey respondents were under 21. This isn’t ideal as my target market for this project
is completely different. However, as can be seen from [Venkatasamy, Nithyaprakash. (2015)] this is the age bracket that has the most impact on the fashion choices of the rest of the population, so I have chosen not to disclude them from the results, and treat the data as one class.
Venkatasamy, Nithyaprakash. (2015). Fashion trends and their impact on the society. https:// www.researchgate.net/publication/282571020_Fashion_trends_and_their_impact_on_the_ society
wallet research II
Results ctd.
Responses to ‘What, if anything would improve your current wallet’ Less broken It’s not easy to clean. Looks very gross atm. But otherwise it’s a pretty good one Make it more compact
I love my wallet because it fits all my various cards in & fits a lot of change, but i do usually use a much smaller card holder for daily use, it’s more convenient if I’m not using a bag.
Last longer, more stylish Yeh - it’s dirty, should be clean Currently I don’t have one and it’s the back of my phone case, great for compactness and convenience but it makes my case not fit so it doesn’t really protect my phone very well....I would like something that maybe fits on my phone or some other essential item that I always have to have with me. Make it waterproof Nothing It’s a bit boring tbh. Very bland design. A zip that doesn’t unzip itself and empty itself into my bag. Super lame. Sturdier material Thinner Cards too squashed together It being smaller. It being filled with less crap
Responses to ‘Is there anything else standout that you carry in your wallet?’ Picture No, but I like having a transparent pocket for ID Card - shaped multitool Condoms Medic ID, sometimes little keyrings and shit
Further analysis Looking deeper into the gathered data give good insights into the wallet-using population. • There seem to be two distinct groups of wallet-users. These being the compact, card based users and the cash & coin based users who want larger wallets. • Large card capacity and compactness were the most valued assets, closely followed by aesthetics. • Approximately half the respondents cared strongly about the physical properties of their wallet (weight, material choice, tactility)
wallet. The modal average was a 5, however the mean and median averages fell on a rating of 7. • There was a common theme of users wanting to improve compactness and ease to clean of their current wallets. • My respondent’s average wallet would include 8 cards, 4 notes or tickets and few coins. • There was a trend of small, flat items such as pictures, ID cards, card shaped multitools and condoms to be stored in wallets. • There were two comments that liked the feature of a transparent slot for an ID card.
• Nearly every respondent had a positive view of their current
Photographs Your picture, darling
So What?
What Now?
Sometimes a multi tool
Looked further into my target market, and explored what is important to someone who uses a wallet
Create initial designs, and apply principles of iterative design.
Found parameters and insights to use in design development
Create paper protos
wallet concepts
I based my initial wallet ideas off of a combination of wallet designs I had previously used, and tried to add distinctive and unique features. I particularly liked the idea of a dual purpose quick access pocket, used primarily store coins, with space to store a ticket or other quick use item. I used the data gathered from my survey in order to inform my wallet designs. • At least 8 cards that can be easily accessed • Space for 4 notes, as well as a few tickets
Decision Matrix Potential Usability
Manufacture Complexity (7 = least)
Useful Density (most things fit in space)
Aesthetics
Decision to Prototype
Split Side Wallet
5
5
3
6
Yes
Pop Wallet
4
2
4
2
Yes
3D Print Hinge
3
1
2
5 (potential for higher with colour print)
Yes through HP Printers
Re-look at old wallet
6
3
5
7
Yes
Three Fold Wallet
7
4
7
3
Yes
Single Slot
1
7
1
1
No - too low score.
Landscape Single Slot
2
6
6
4
No - No access to zips
Idea
• Space for a few coins, however not at the forefront of the design • Space for other, small flat objects As well as this, I tried to address some of the response to the wallet improvement question within my designs. Using a decision matrix, I chose which ideas to take further in prototyping, as well as analyse the flaws of each design. I ranked each wallet out of the 7 designs for each category, with 7 being the best and 1 being the worst.
prototyping I
Prototype manufacture and user testing of ideas 2 and 5. Prototyped out of cheap, on hand materials 110gsm paper and scotch tape. To improve the quality of the proto, I could have used masking tape and varied the thickness of card to match my intention. These prototypes came out better than expected, and allowed me to play with the designed mechanism. The ‘pop’ function of idea 2 was unexpectedly functional, with it easily opening to a quadrilateral shape when pressed from the top and bottom, with the cards in the card slots acting as a beam to press against.
In user testing, this wallet was fairly well received, however concerns were raised over the fact that to take a single note out of the back, you would have to take all the other notes out with it. This is an inherent design flaw with the idea. Idea 5 was fairly well received, however users were slightly confused as to the use of the quick access pocket / coin pouch. However once it was explained to them they commented that they’d use it primarily for train tickets. This shows that if continued with, this part of the wallet could come with a card in it outlining how the pocket is meant to work.
prototyping II
Prototypes of ideas 1 and 4 I prototyped ideas 1 and 4 in the same way as 3 and 5. Like the others, I tested them with a focus group of peers outside in a socially distanced scenario. I found that idea 1 was the most like wallets I had used before, as was backed up by my focus group. It was said for this wallet design to stand out, it would need to be made to a very high standard with the material being the unique selling point rather than the wallet design itself. I agreed with this statement, and if anything would apply it to all but the 3D printed hinge wallet from my initial ideas. Users seemed to like my 4th idea, especially the tactility of the integrated money clip. The outside facing card slots were a contentious issue, with some users liking the ease of access for frequently used cards such as a bank card, with others thinking it would not be secure enough for important documents such as a driving licence. From this initial round of testing I concluded that my design would need a stand out feature, or some piece of unique design to complement the high-end material I am planning to make it out of.
So What?
What Now?
Explored my ideas in 3D,
CAD up a hinge
Received useful user feedback Redesign with a look for a USP
Use HP 3D printers to prototype Re-test at focus group to inform future decisions on project.
prototyping III
Initial CAD exploration Using fusion 360 to model and render, I created two different three-wing hinge designs. Using HP’s 3D print technology, these can be manufactured to very small, sub mm tolerance. As I was using such a precise manufacture technique, I tried on one of my models to print the entire assembly as one piece, meaning the hinge would be stronger. The other model was made using a more traditional hinge, with snap-on wings. This could
mean that i could explore the possibility of the wallet being modular, with different, interchangeable wings that could be swapped out dependant on the user’s use case. Furthermore, in future revisions I could use generative design techniques to maximise the strength whilst minimising the weight of the hinge.
So What?
What Now?
Learnt the basics of fusion 360
Wait for the prints to return, then user test
Tested the ability of HP 3D printers to print small assembly components
Explore using generative to create stronger/lighter hinge Explore hinges with only two sides.
tutorial III
Hinge Mood Board
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip
In this tutorial, I presented the work I had done designing, iterating and prototyping wallets. However, I was commented on that my designs weren’t that different to ones on the market at the moment. To make them stand out, I could use 3D printing in order to update part of the wallet design.
3D, making the most of the HP 3D printing prototyping stages.
A guide on types of hinge
Hinge from surface book 3 Double action hinge
As well as this, I will look at how an external hinge would effect the usability of the wallet. As I can see that it would be difficult to create a full size note pocket with this approach. Hinge from Dell XPS 2 in 1
Discussing this further, the idea of a 3D printed external hinge was brought to the table. This is very similar to the printed internal hinge I modelled in CAD. From this, I will focus mostly on developing this hinge in
Internal Hinge from Dell XPS 2 in 1
So What?
What Now?
• Decided to focus on the creation of a hinge
• Explore hinge designs
• Trying to add uniqueness to my designs
Living hinge, printed in PLA plastic
• Further look into the advantages/ disadvantages of HP multijet printing
hinge ideas
From my tutorial with Hugh, I explored the concept of updating the wallet hinge for a digital age. From my previous mood board, I looked at modern, disruptive hinge design, like the hinges on the Galaxy Z Flip and Surface book. These are both geared hinges, however extremely complex. Looking at my production method I would not be able to create a hinge to the tolerance needed, so I have to look to simplify these. The surface and Z flip embody two different philosophies, with the z flip trying to hide the hinge away by using covers that always surround the hinge mechanism. This not only protects the hinge from
dust, but further integrates it into the design of the phone. The surface however uses the hinge as a design feature, with an aesthetically pleasing side which shows off the mechanism. Both of these approaches have their merits, however creating a covered hinge may make my product too bulky. I shall try and design and develop both of these in order to see what method works in context of my product.
analysis of 3D print
Analysis of HP 3D printing My initial impressions of the HP 3D printing were great, with the material feeling solid, and having a great, almost concrete-like texture to it. As well as this, the process created good features, down to a 1mm precision. When testing the structural rigidity, I found that even at 2mm thickness, it was very difficult to deform. However, upon closer inspection, I found there were issues with
the way I was working with the process. When initially designing these parts, I had left a 0.5mm gap for tolerance when printing as an assembly. This was not enough to remove powder between bodies, and caused too much friction on the joint to the point of fracture. I will have to consider this in future when thinking about tolerance in my designs.
So What?
What Now?
• Looked at my first attempt at printing using HP multijet
• Take these observations and use them in the next round of printing to improve the quality of output
• Discovered limitations of printing as assembly and print as parts
The gearing on the hinge would make it more tactile to open, and improve the ergonomics of the wallet, allowing it to be opened more easily with one hand. After drawing up an initial concept, I took this to fusion to create a simple geared hinge, with tabs that could be inserted into pockets made out of fabric to form the final wallet.
noticed that there would be a lot of play in the hinge if I was to print this. As well as this, the entire mechanism seemed bulky and was too thick to be easily carried in someone’s pocket. Therefore I used this CAD model as a starting point to create more detailed and developed hinge designs.
From this CAD model I
10
initial concept for geared hinge
10
70
development
After receiving the 3D printing back from HP, I decided that the tolerance of their process were low enough for me to create a geared hinge.
30 3
A 11 75
0.
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°
R5
renders of assembly
1.56
A (3:1)
Technical reference
Created by
Approved by
Document type
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Title
DWG No.
Charlie Cumming 12/11/2020
Hinge L
Rev.
Date of issue
What Now?
• Created a 3D model of a wallet hinge
• Use this as a starting point for further CAD development
• Looked at the three main parts I would need to make a hinge
1.22 Dept.
So What?
Sheet
1/1
• Try to improve smoothness of the hinge
first attempt at combining the L and R sides. Initial concept for a Helical Hinge The concept of using a helical hinge instead of a simple hinge was to improve the tactility of opening, as well as reduce play in the hinge. This works by slanting the teeth on the gears, which more evenly distributes the force as the mechanism is turned, In this initial CAD model, these helical gears were created using a loft between two sketches, one rotated at a given angle. To make these gears mesh correctly, I had to make sure the loft angles of each
side were complementary, otherwise they would grind together an not mesh. However, I did not correctly predict that I would need an overall angular offset between sides. This caused this model to have a 15 degree discrepancy between the sides. I created a basic housing for these hinges to test out the fit. This was then used as a template for further CAD models.
after a 15 degree offset
Learning from my mistakes in my first round of CAD prototyping my helical geared hinge, I made sure to include a 15 degree rotation into my gear design. As well as this I discovered the add-ins feature of Fusion360, enabling me to use the HelicalGear add-in to create helical gears by simply typing in parameters rather than creating and lofting sketches. This accelerated my design time greatly.
this path, however with only one prototype run left, I decided to proceed with a print as parts approach. This could then be assembled using 3D printed interference fit pins.
Furthermore, I decided that I wasn’t going to print my hinge as an assembly as there would be a too high chance I would mess up the tolerance somewhere and the mechanism wouldn’t move. If I had significantly more time, or more prototyping runs I would have continued down
As well as this, I added labelling to the side panels so in assembly I could make sure I knew which one was which. That would be a problem when I have 10 of these to assemble.
As well as making sure to angle the gears correctly, I moved the centre of rotation of my gears further out, meaning the whole assembly could be thinner. I also added holes into the tabs in order to secure the material to.
7.8
8
90
A
60
A (3:1) R2
9.2
5°
19.2
R4
technical drawing of the LHS helical gear
Dept.
Technical reference
Created by
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Document type
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Title
DWG No.
Charlie Cumming 17/11/2020
LHS Helical
Rev.
Date of issue
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1/1
From my previous design, I was still not happy with the shape of the side piece. I felt that it was cumbersome and not particularly aesthetically pleasing. I had similar response from peers I asked about it, with one suggesting that instead of trying to hide the hinge away to show it off as a feature. This comes back to my initial look at hinges, and from this I looked at adopting a hinge with the same goal as the hinge from the Surface Book, to show off the fact that it had a hinge.
3
3
10
R3
22.85
A (4:1) 5
3.
A 6.09
16.5
Ø
R2
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DWG No.
Charlie Cumming 17/11/2020
t pose
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On paper I experimented with different shapes, finding objects in the flat that resembled them and testing out the ergonomics. In the end I settled on a simple, bent bar aesthetic, I felt that out of my design ideas this one looked the cleanest and detracted least from the hinge. The only problem could be the thinness of material around the holes for the pegs. However, looking at my prototypes I feel it’ll probably be OK due to the rigidity of HP’s material.
tutorial & dev
Tutorial Comments Within my tutorial I presented my work on the development of my hinge. Again, I used the tutorial as an open forum to gauge my tutors and peers reactions to my work. My tutor thought that my older designs for the hinge were quite bulky, and that I am on my way to developing a thinner and more sleek one. I agreed that I have come a good way from my initial design, and that I still had a bit of refinement to do until I am happy with it. I feel that the design still doesn’t look quite right, and would the hinge is too large compared to the wallet body that would be put onto it. However, if I decreased the size of the gears, I could run into tolerance issues with the HP multijet production system. Another comment that I received from my tutors was the question of why would someone buy my wallet compared to any other. This was a great question, as even though I had created distinct features I couldn’t think of a good enough reason to purchase my design over any other.
From my tutorial, I took three major points about my design. • Still too thick • Is it durable enough to be sat on when carried in a back pocket? • Why would someone use this product? In order to reduce the thickness, without having to completely re-do the CAD model, i scaled each part by 0.8, then cut and extruded them back to the original height. However, this put my gears very close to the 1.5mm
Personally, the tools I most use on my Victorianox multitool is the knife and bottle opener. 3D To add durability, I made sure not to scale the thickness of the printing a knife doesn’t sound like a good idea so I decided tab, and kept this at 2mm. As well as this, I added 1mm to the to integrate a bottle opener into a money clip. This money thickness of the hinge case, as clip could then be slid in and well as added 2mm each side out of the top of the wallet, of the pin holes. I don’t know sliding into the slot created in what difference this will make, the tab. but I will find out after round 2 of prototyping. limit of precision outlined by HP in their initial presentation.
In order to add functionality to the product, I looked back at my wallet survey, and found that a fair few people carried multitools in their wallets.
A suggestion was to add more functionality to my wallet. From this, I will look back at my research and find unique solutions to problems found at that stage.
development ii
I initially created the money clip in fusion without a bottle opener cut-out. I strengthened one side of the clip, which was the part that I then used a scanner in order to get a dimensionally accurate jpeg of a bottle opener I own. From this I used illustrator to create a vector outline, then used imported this into fusion as a SVG file. From this, I cut out a slot on the back of the clip that would slot into my hinge tab. I then sent off this version to be prototyped by HP.
However, I made a glaring error in this, where I didn’t consider the orientation of the slot on the hinge tab. This means that the design I sent to be prototyped would not slot in correctly, and be facing the wrong way when slotted in in the original manner. I corrected my mistake for the final print version by mirroring both the bottle opener and the cut out slot on the back.
development
While exploring the hinge, I was developing the fabric side of my product. This is why I the drawings still have previous hinge versions depicted. I was trying to incorporate as much data from my survey as possible, designing for 8 cards, a few notes and tickets and not adding extra storage for coins. As well as this, I incorporated ideas from my initial wallet concepts. Furthermore, I wanted to create a 2 tome aesthetic, with the green and black desserto fabric that I ordered. Looking at the fabric in person, I can defiantly use the unique properties of each different type to my advantage. The
black desserto ‘stiff’ is thicker, stiffer as well as has a black, polycotton backing. This seems like it would be a very tough material, and would be suitable for use on the outside of the wallet. The green desserto ‘knit’ seems to be more supple, as well as has a contrasting back colour. This would make a good card pocket, as it would be easier to get cards in and out of. However, this could be a problem in manufacture, as when folded, the desserto thick material could be difficult to sew with a normal sewing machine due to the thickness of the material.
So What? • Explored a general look of my final product • A
What Now?
packaging
Exploring different packaging designs, I wanted to make it look as much of an experience to open as possible, whilst using as few adhesives as possible to make sure it can be fully recycled at end of life. This led me to explore different types of presentation box, taking inspiration from packaging I had on hand such as the T2 Tea 5 gift set. As well as this, I looked at a range of papers and cards I had in the flat in order to gauge the I wanted to add personality to the packaging without adding any non-recyclable
packaging mood board
materials and processes, and decided on using laser cut recycled 150gsm card. This is only usable for this small scale production as laser cutting is a relatively time intensive processes, however has low set up costs per item. If I was ever to make a large batch, I could use die cut packaging that had previously been printed.
packaging dev
In my packaging, I wanted to include as much reference to the desserto material as possible. I experimented with using offcuts from making prototypes as a pull tab. This would give the user direct contact with the material whilst not increasing the cost of the packaging by recycling scraps. I also explored different ways of using graphics to my advantage. I wanted the product packaging to be interesting to look at from all sides, however not overly busy. I felt that a portrait orientation was different to other packaging, and would stand out.
I also considered how it would look at a stacked product if it was to be sold on a shelf. I used the sides of the box to display the tagline on one side, and the logo on the other side. In order to protect my packaging in the post, I would use a cheap jiffy bag. This would both add a layer of padding as well as a large area to affix a label and stamp.
interim & proto 1
Interim presentation comments In the interim presentation I showed my work up to a group of my peers, as well as Hugh and Jen. I got a positive response as to the form and colour scheme I had chosen, however there were still some questions as to the thickness of the overall product. In my future prototyping, I will focus on trying to reduce the thickness of the each side of the wallet. My packaging was generally well received, with the matchbox shape being seen as a good compromise between overly fancy and incorporating too many moving elements and overly simple and dull. My focus from here will be on getting a good prototype in the final materials, and from there finalising my pattern design for final manufacture. Within prototype 1, I attempted to try out all the manufacturing techniques I’d need to practice in order to complete my final manufacture. This included, but was not limited to: • Precision template making • Cutting • Hemming • Inseams • Riveting This ended up being far more difficult than initially thought. Making templates consistently resulted in either printer errors due to my printer being from the middle ages or the template not surviving more than one trace. In order to fix this I could have used a thicker card, or laser cut acrylic. However with GSA being closed due to COVID I was not able to access these resources. I solved this issue by practicing tracing more carefully.
Initially I tried cutting my material using a sharp scalpel, however quickly realised that this was not good enough, as it left rough edges when cutting the knit backed fabric, and took multiple attempts to cut through the stiff fabric. In order to correct this I purchased fabric specific scissors, which cut both fabrics with ease. Creating an inseam worked well, allowing for a good level of finish and sharp corners when reversed. However, due to the nature of the fabric it did not press down very well. In order to combat this, I stitched round the edges at various distances from the edge to test what would look the nicest. I settled on a small stitching gap of 3mm. I tried joining parts together with rivets and this worked well, however the rivet would dimple in the middle. This was no longer a problem after I had acquired a rivet punch.
proto 1 II
Following on from my experiments with the material, i tried an initial attempt to create a pocket in the wallet. In order to do this, I layered a thinner layer of desserto knit over a wider layer of desserto stiff, then created an inseam to create a pocketed front. In doing this I learnt some valuable lessons about working with this material. Desserto knit stretches when sewing, especially when sewing to the much less stretchy desserto stiff. This results in ugly banding and wonky seams. This should be avoided in visible stitching in future revisions. Even at four layers thick, my sewing machine was struggling with sewing without manual advancement. I need to look into methods of flattening or pinning in order to make it easier for the foot to go over the material,
Depending on the thickness of material, I need to adjust the tension on the sewing machine otherwise it creates long loops and the bobbin gets caught. Creating a single pocket that goes around the entire wallet side did not look good, so I will need to re-imagine this in the next proto. Turning corners is hellish when sewing more than two layers. This again should be considered in the final pattern design.
So What?
What Now?
• Discovered some dos and don’ts of working with desserto
• Rethink the pocket side of the wallet
• Practiced some sewing techniques
• Research guidance on working with stretchy materials
proto 2 Carrying on from my first prototype, I wanted to redesign the card holder. After looking closer at my current wallet, I noticed that instead of full length pockets, it used a small length of material as a divider in one large pocket.
different methods, sewing with and against the folds, as well as incorporating it into the inseam. I found that sewing in the direction of the folds (RHS of image) produced a far nicer result than sewing in the opposite direction of the folds.
To copy this, I drew out a set of divider which I hemmed the top of and left the bottom unhemmed as it won’t be seen.
An inseam also worked well, however did make the wallet more chunky than desired.
From there I overlapped and stitched them together. From doing this I learned another tidbit of information about desserto knit - that it is much easier to sew in one direction than the other, due to the directionality of the stretch in the material. I tested sewing this created pocket directly onto a backing piece of desserto stiff in three
However, this prototype ended up being far larger than the previous ones, so I need to keep the seam allowances in mind in future prototypes in order to allow them to line up. So What?
What Now?
• Discovered more about directionality of the materials
• Refine this idea into a smaller shell
• Created a decent pocket section
• Think about manufacture regarding material directionality
proto 3
In this prototype I was keen to explore the way that the desserto material bonds and interacts with the PA12 printed by HP. I looked at using rivets to join the desserto to itself through a drilled hole in the PA12. This worked really well, however the rivets were still becoming dented when joined. To rectify this I phoned my mother and borrowed a fabric rivet tap and punch set. This problem went away when I used the proper tools for the job.
into the internal card pockets. In order to make these pockets more usable i used a tab system, with the desserto stiff folding over the back of the PA12 and tucking back into itself. This made the motion of inserting and retrieving a card much nicer, as the desserto stiff had a tighter grip on the card than the PA12.
A problem I encountered when connecting the RHS of the wallet to the housing was the pegs I had made did not fit in the holes. This was due both to me including a too However, using rivets still left a distinct tight tolerance during the design gap between the desserto fabric phase as well as the holes not being and the PA-12, which at this point in cleared of powder at HP. the project was unsightly due to the I attempted to counter this using difference in colour. small dowels that I carved into This though was a cloud with a silver shape and hammered in. This lining. By creating gaps , i had made worked surprisingly well. places that were perfect for holding cards. If I used this as a feature, I could expand the functionality of the wallet, and increase capacity without needing to sew more layers
proto 3 ii
Continuing on, I assembled the hinge assembly and was surprised by how nice it was to use. The gears meshed well, and were very smooth to use. Conducting user testing, all my users liked the initial feel however some of them said that they could not judge their overall opinion until there was equal weight on either side. This was a very valid point as the difference in weight of the sides gave a very distinct feeling in the hinge. However this was still encouraging news. What was less encouraging though was the utter failure of my money clip to work as a bottle opener. When trying to open a bottle of Lidl’s finest the points on it broke. I predict that this is down both to my design being too thin, as well as the difference in the colour printing and mono printing multijet fusion processes, as the material scored and marked far easier than the
mono. This would lead me to believe that it is softer and easier to break and malform. However, I had printed these and bar this design flaw the money clip worked well, with the right amount of flexiblity to hold either a single note of a large bunch of tickets. I didn’t see the need to re-make these, especially as I would have to pay for them in round 3 of printing. Therefore I decided just not to market the fact there was meant to be a bottle opener in the first place when creating the branding and marketing for the product.
proto 4 Iterating on prototype 3, I tried using a longer tab, that would intersect where the rivets would go through in order to create a tight seal to the sides of the wallet. I also sought to tidy up the edges of the wallet, aiming to minimise overall thickness. As well as this, I tried to leave a gap in the edge for the money clip to be inserted. As is becoming a theme, all this was more difficult than initially thought. By over-stitching the edges of the wallet, I had made the inside pocket significantly smaller, meaning the tab would no longer fit - creating unsightly ripples in the fabric, and even when cut down it barely fit. In future revisions I would have to learn to stitch closer to the edge. This would also look better. Furthermore, I discovered another characteristic of
desserto - it’s ability to melt when under high heat. This was both a blessing and a curse, wherein if I tried to iron it on a too high temperature it melted to my pressing fabric and ruined both the pressing fabric and the desserto. However I could use this melting to my advantage. When heated up slightly (a shade above two dots on my iron) it would slightly melt into itself. Not enough to effect the surface finish, but enough to cover up needle holes from imperfect stitching. This helped massively as it meant I could re-do stitching multiple times and the material could ‘heal’. I also discovered my sewing machine really didn’t like going through more than 8 layers of desserto stiff. I went and bought thicker leathermaking needles.
Iron set too high
RIP needle 1
adjustmetns
23.49
3.4
14.89
From my prototype 3, I identified a few issues. These being:
housing. This saved cost in the final print, as well as meaning that there was as little waste as possible.
• The hinge housing was poorly In order to do this, I added a small designed, meaning that the gears were able to unmesh when brought extrusion that intersected with the gear mechanism when it was turned either to a more than 180 degree angle to 0 or 90 degrees. • The holes for the pegs were too small, meaning the pegs would not fit.
• The LHS and RHS parts of the hinge could rotate too far towards each other, which could make them unmesh. In order to fix this, I managed to make it so I only had to redesign the hinge
However, this meant that my hinge housing was a tad larger than I wanted. However this was the best compromise that I could create, without redesigning the RHS and LHS parts to include a larger amount of the helical gear. Unfortunately, in doing this I made the width of the entire hinge 4mm thicker, which undid all of the
work I had done in making this version of the hinge thinner. If I was to make the holes bigger for the pegs, I would have had to further increase this width, so I looked at other ways of securing the LHS and RHS to the hinge housing. I settled on using small, painted wooden dowels that I could hammer into the hinge housing and would be secured as an interference fit.
3.4
3.5
71
64
6.9
11.49
A Ø2.8 3.15
A (3:1)
1.35 2 6 Dept.
Technical reference
Created by
Approved by
Document type
Document status
Title
DWG No.
Charlie Cumming 04/12/2020
New T Piece
Rev.
Date of issue
Sheet
1/1
proto 5
After receiving my final 3D prints from HP, I created my final prototype. I was extremely happy with the fit and finish of the hinge, it worked perfectly and wasn’t as bulky as initially suspected. I used the same pattern as proto 4, but used smaller seam margins in the RHS, and a new pattern based on the single divided pocket of proto 2. I minimised visible stitching between desserto knit and stiff, however had a single line. This was very difficult to sew and would require great care in final production.
Furthermore, I tried to over-sew the bottom seam, however after breaking two new needled I conceded defeat. I finished this by hand. It didn’t look that good anyway. Although scruffy and misaligned, I now had a fully functioning prototype. I could use this for ergonomic and user testing, within which my limited focus group (thanks covid) were very positive. I could also use this prototype to create initial marketing and placeholder photos for the final product.
RIP needle 2
RIP needle 3
final design
My final design compassed everything I had learnt from my 5 prototypes, both about the materials and the processes involved in working with them. It included the card pockets first seen in prototype 3 on each side, with the card in it butting up against the rivets in the side in order to be as easy to access as possible. I used the idea of wooden dowels to hold the hinge together, but this time blended this into the black of the hinge housing using a pocco paint marker. This worked well and meant that the dowels were disguised in the wallet. I used the inseam and divider method of creating pockets, seen in prototype 5, however did not oversew the bottom of the wallet, as I feared that this would be too difficult to keep straight and of acceptable quality. This would result in a thicker wallet, but I decided to live with this compromise in order for an easier manufacture,
final pattern
I created my final design for the wallet sides on illustrator, and printed them on A4, cut them out and used them to trace and cut my final materials. This imposed some challenges as some of my shapes were larger than I could print. In order to counter this, I printed in multiple parts and used alignment lines to make sure I could reassemble with the same alignment as on illustrator. To reassemble after cutting I used masking tape. The final design was an iteration of prototypes 4 and 5, with a different tab length. As well as this, I outlined the seam widths on each blank
for reference when sewing in order to make sure I was consistent between the LHS and RHS. As previously said, it would have been useful for these patterns to be cut from a more durable material than printer paper, as this would allow them to not get damaged when tracing and cutting. During the cutting of material, I managed to only need to recut these once, however I think that I would have been able to mark and cut quicker and easier if the templates had a noticeable thickness to them.
costing
Cost worked out on a per item scale, rather than per batch of 10. This means i am not including the excess material bought due to minimum order quantity. Desserto Stiff (Black) Adding up total area • 220x85 • 80x51 • 25x60 • 120x85 • 80x51 • 25x60 • 125x85 Total = 50685mm2 Material purchased at $25/LM (1.4x1m)
3D Printing Initially costed by Maryam at HP, however this part was scaled by 80%, so I am scaling costs equally. Hinge housing - Initially cost as £1.13, new price £0.96 Hinge Sides - Initially cost at £3.33, new price £2.83 x 2 = £5.66 Pins - Based on the volume compared to other costed prints = £0.04 x 4 = £0.16 Other Rivets - £0.10 x 4 = £0.40 Thread - £0.05 x 2 = £0.10 Material Wastage = £0.20
Total Price = $0.90 = £0.67
Packaging = £0.40
Desserto Knit Backed (Green)
Grand Material Total = £8.37
Adding up total area
Costing out two potential price points. Aiming to make a profit of between £7-10. Price Point 1 £20 -15% GSA commission = £17 -£0.60 BigCartel handling fee = £16.40 -£1.64 First Class large letter post = £14.76 -£8.37 Material Cost = £6.39 -£0.40 Packaging = £5.99 TOTAL PROFIT £5.99 Price Point 2 £25 -15% GSA commission = £21.50 -£0.60 BigCartel handling fee = £20.90
• 115x55 • 115x40x2 Total = 15525mm2
-£1.64 First Class large letter post = £19.26
Material purchased at $26/LM (1.4x1m)
-£0.40 Packaging = £10.49
Total Price = $0.29 = £0.22
-£8.37 Material Cost = £10.89 TOTAL PROFIT £10.49
So What?
What Now?
branding
Exploring Font combinations The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog - Archia The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog - ITC Avant Garde Cond The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog - Lucida Sans The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog - Gill Sans The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog - Helvetica
wallet
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog - Product Sans The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog - Helvetica Neue The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog - PT Sans The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog - Futura PT Med The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog - ITC Avant Garde Gothic
wallet
nopal nopal nopal cactus leather wallet
nopal nopal nopal
nopal nopal
Within my logo, I wanted to capture the essence oft the cactus leather material, however didn’t want to include a cactus form or silhouette as I thought this would be tacky and misrepresent the product. I liked the idea of working with simple, geometric shapes, and using a combination of triangles, rectangles and semicircles. Using these principles I created the first logo. However, looking at this logo, I decided that the crisp, pointed edges were too far. I then went looking for typefaces that fit my geometric vision. I found Milka, a lovely typeface that consists only of wide rectangles and consistently curved edges.
swatch textures. I really liked the effect that this created, however it could be to messy for a professional logo. I settled on using the first swatch overlay as a main logo as compared to the rest it is quite understated, however still gives a hint of the dry, arid conditions the cactus is grown in. I also decided to use the monotone one as a secondary logo/outline on items that didn’t need/couldn’t use a colour logo. To complement the Milka typeface I looked at a variety of sans serif typefaces. I settled on Product Sans, as I thought the perfect circles complemented the consistent curves seen in Milka.
Bringing down the kerning allowed the logo to look more together and joined. In order to conform my logo to my product more, I tried adding different
So What?
What Now?
• Explored different logo variations
• Look at implementing the branding into packaging nets and posters
• Decided on a primary and secondary logo • Decided on a typeface theme
I wanted to bring the user closer to the material, and using some of the material in the box would be a good way to introduce them to the product. A good way of doing this could be to create a pull tab out of offcuts of the wallet, both reusing material destined to be recycled as well as providing a better user experience. To include this in the net, I used a tab structure that would allow me to slip a strip of material into the base of the packaging when folded.
I included a small easter egg, which would be hidden under the wallet and revealed when the user initially takes the wallet out of the packaging. This adds some character to the packaging and makes the experience of opening the package more fun for the user.
Final Net
inner tray
Covering the wallet in the packaging would be an information card, in order to inform the user about the product, as well as a link to a website containing cleaning information. Unfortunately, due to Christmas post times, my packaging was delayed and I was not able to receive it to photograph and evaluate in context before the deadline of the project.
Outer cover
The graphics on my packaging were created to minimise laser cutting time whilst maximising impact of the final product. In order to do this I kept the amount of laser raster engraving to an absolute minimum - only reserved for the pde collection logo. Everything else I kept as a simple one-pass engrave (red lines). I used the outline version of the nopal logo, as well as the tagline on the side of the box, so if it was stacked it would still stand out.
designed by charlie cumming pde4 2020 designbycharlie.co.uk
In card nopal is made from desserto™, a sustainable leather alternative derived from the nopal cactus. The hinge seeks to showcase the power of modern 3D printing.
with thanks to:
packaging dev
In my final packaging, I used a matchbox as inspiration in order to create a presentation box, with the aim for the unboxing of the wallet to be an experience rather than a chore.
With new technology, we can vote with our wallets and change the world.
poster
I tried to create a fun but simple poster, using a limited colour palette of green black and orange in order to draw the viewer’s eye to the wallet. I considered the placement of the wallet in the frame, and tried to dress the set in a way that reflected my product. In order to do this, I used a vintage camera lens to contrast to the green of the left side of the wallet, and a cactus in order to provide contrast to the black side of the wallet. As well as this the cactus tied nicely into the material of the product. To add some information to the poster I created labels and arrows using a paint marker brush in photoshop. This adds a playful nature to the poster as well as adds a diagonal line to the viewer’s eye.
After submitting my poster to miro, I received some useful peer and tutor feedback, which can be seen above. This was great, as I was able to gauge audience reaction to my poster. The main takeaway from my comments was that the layout and idea of the poster was good, however the imagery could be improved in order to show the hinge in a better light. I think that in a second revision I could play with depth of field in order to isolate the wallet from the background. As well as this, I could look to dress the set with parts from the wallet creation, in order to show the hinge off in a sudoexploded view.
final poster
From the feedback of my initial design for the poster, I wanted to make my poster stand out more, and be unique, whilst showing off the hinge more. Unlike during the creation of poster 1, at this point in the project I had completed my main manufacture, I had these finished products to take photos of. This meant that I could use more than one wallet, and have a focus on details of the wallet. I was inspired by a samsung advert I had seen on the subway with their ‘Galaxy gifts’ tagline. I really liked the flat, top down perspective of this advert, and how the layout of the items was in a grid. This gave an odd sense of perspective to the image, with a consistent cross lighting. To adapt this advert that shows a range of products to an poster that shows many aspects of one product, I used directly vertical photos of my wallets in different
use cases and from different angles. This allowed me to compose my poster in photoshop, and from this develop the same odd perspective samsung achieved. However, at this point I wasn’t entirely happy with the composition of the image, as the wallets didn’t stand out as much as I would have liked from the white background. I used the triad colour of the green of my wallet - orange - as well as grey to add a subtle halftone texture to the background. I felt that this tied the image together, and made the wallets pop more.
final images
Image 1 - General overview of internals
Image 2 - Overview of back, focus on quick pockets
Image 4 - Profile view, debit card seen for scale
Sony FE 50mm Prime @ f3.5 Soligor 28mm Vintage Prime @ f8 (with a lot of editing) Sony FE 50mm Prime @ f3.5 For my shop upload I created a set of 5 images of my wallet, cropped to square to fit in with the theme of the pdecollection website. I decided to use very limited set dressing and props due to comments that earlier photographs shot were too ‘busy’.
Image 4 - Top view with pound coin for scale
Image 3 - Closeup of hinge with context
In order to do this I set up a makeshift photo studio, with 2 LED panel lights in order to minimise unwanted shadows. I used a slightly warmer than average white setting on the light panels, as I thought this brought out the oranges and coppers in the wallet and contents. For my main shot of my product I used a 28mm lens with a narrow aperture in order to give the photo as wide angle as possible, as well as keep the entire wallet in focus.
Sony FE 50mm Prime @ f2 my ‘studio’ phone. f1.8
For my detail shots I opted for a faster, 50mm prime lens, in order to add a little flair to my photography. I opted to use a variety of apertures in order to accentuate different parts of the wallet, especially the hinge. I filled the wallet with a variety of different contents, in order to subtly show the viewer different ways in which the wallet can be used.
Sony FE 50mm Prime @ f1.8
shop upload In order to upload to the PDE collection website, I prepared 5 photos as well as a GIF in order to show my product in the best light possible. As well as this, I wrote a 74 word summary of the wallet. Within bigcartel I explored different layouts, trying to get as much impact as possible from the free tier, which limited customisation options such as amount of images allowed to be uploaded to the product page. I looked at including a slide show of product images, which is included in the free trial however decided against it required the user to scroll down to add the product to their basket. This would
have meant more steps involved with the purchase of the product, a factor that I would seek to minimise. Instead I opted to use my poster as a splash image on the product page, as I thought it differentiated it from the pdecollection website, as well as showing off the graphic. I customised the font and text colour to match the theme of the poster as much as possible within the free tier of bigcartel. Overall i think my page looks professional and is easy to navigae.
reflections
In the end I think I produced a good product for the PDE collection. However this was not without issues and problems. I feel that if I had full access to the GSA workshop I could have used the expertise and equipment in order to improve my textile work, as I had little to no prior experience and had to find out many things the hard way. For example, it would have been hugely beneficial to use an industrial sewing machine, as this would have allowed me to sew through more layers than the consumer grade sewing machine I used in my production. In my production i encountered a few issues. These primarily being the fault of me being underprepared when going into manufacture. I really needed basic sewing equipment like a big ruler and set square, as it was a right pain to measure and mark up with a 30cm ruler. Furthermore, it was a good idea to do batch production - creating each part as a batch then moving on to the next part. This meant that I improved as i made all the parts, working from the simplest to the most complicated steps. This also allowed me to only use the equipment that was necessary for that stage - useful when working on my cramped living room table. I found the online working environment quite challenging as I found it was much less of a creative environment. I thought that sharing ideas and getting feedback was far more difficult this year than previous years. This meant I found myself less driven to work on the project, and not enjoying PDE as much as I have done in previous years. However, due to the current situation this couldn’t be rectified, and I found that going for walks as well as meeting people outside of studio time helped improve creativity and passion for the project. One of the main lessons I learnt doing this project is the power of research before diving blind headfirst into trying to learn a new skill. If I had researched what I would
have needed to manufacture my wallets more thoroughly in the initial stages, I would have probably change my project quite considerably. This could have come in the form of an all 3D printed wallet or even a self-sew kit. If I did this project again, I would reach out to more people to get opinions and feedback rather than just waiting for tutorial sessions. This would allow me to more accurately get relevant feedback from my target market. Overall, I think this project was run really well, especially in the current situation - and as Craig said, this year’s crop of products are the best yet. But I bet he says that every year. It was great working with industry professionals like Jen and Maryam and learning how things operate in their businesses. This was an interesting taste of potential careers after PDE.
part 2: nopal revisited
further reflection
Looking back, what I didn’t grasp was the real purpose of my wallet, especially the use of the 3D printed hinge. This made it difficult to justify decisions as well as be able to evaluate my ideas. Having used nopal as my only wallet for 6 months, I think that I have discovered the answer. It’s just a bit of fun, a novelty, something to fiddle with and interact with when opening and closing the wallet. Nothing life-changing, however nice to have and adds a little joy to the very everyday task of purchasing an item. I find the overall design adds a bit of charm to a usually boring every-day item. I’ve had complements and interested questions about it, as well as further enquires as to where they can be purchased. The best thing I have noticed was the placement of the outside pockets, combined with the thickness of the HP 3D printed inserts. This allows both pockets to be used to store separate contactless cards for them to be used from within the wallet with a flick of the thumb. But it’s certainly not perfect. In the next few slides I will analyse my (albeit prototype) wallet for wear after 6 months and suggest ways in which it can be improved. the easiest way to open the wallet, with a single push of the thumb on the side.
The contents of my nopal after 6 months of daily use
nopal; 6 months
This was my first prototype of the nopal design, with the main differences being the lack of 3D printed money clip. However the main body of the wallet is the same design - with better quality seams being implemented on the production models. The desserto cactus leather has lasted surprisingly well, with no marks or blemishes visible that were not originally there. This is certainly a strong point in this design. The black ‘thick’ desserto seems to have gained a slightly more supple feel than it originally had in a similar way to traditional leather. However, the green ‘desserto knit’ does in hindsight seem to be a tad too stretchy. Whilst allowing for more cards to fit in each pocket, it also means that it is easier for a card to fall out if it is placed on its own in the wallet. Combined with the difficulties this material gave me in manufacture, I think that I would change this to another desserto product if I was to reattempt nopal.
The HP MultiJet 3D printed helical hinge has proved exceptionally hard wearing, with no noticeable wear marks or scuffs on the gears and no discolouration on the frame. However the mechanism sometimes skips, leading to me having to bend the wallet to allow it to skip back a tooth. I suspect this isn’t the fault of the gears but the axles they are on.
times of the HP 3D printer. Recreating the original design of ‘pegs’ to hold each wing in would be the best course of action to improve this, as the interference fit of the dowels worked well to secure them in place.
Although, with enough time and iterations, creating an in-built hinge is possible. This would eliminate this potential breaking point The wooden dowels have held up surprisingly as well as significantly simplifying assembly. well but were never a permanent solution, however a stop-gap solution due to the lead
desserto news
Since I originally made the decision to use desserto, it seems the company has had a great 6 months. Desserto is now working with UK high street retailer H&M, creating a range of cactus leather goods (including wallets). This material, as well as other alternate leather seem to be an up and coming trend, with high end car manufacturers such as Tesla and Ferrari offering vegan leather options. As well as this, desserto has created a student programme, allowing access to the entire catalogue without minimum orders as well as a free swatch book. This would have been invaluable when choosing my materials, as I would have been able to trial working with them before ordering large quantities. Overall I am very happy with my choice in materials, as I think that both the desserto and HP MultiJet 3D print hit the perfect balance between unusual material and useful properties. If I was to re-do the graphics and marketing strategies, I would put more emphasis on the materials the product is made out of, possibly drawing analogies to high end companies and products that use them.
improvements
Graphics and Marketing Looking back at my graphical campaign, I really like the idea and form of the poster, however I think that it could have been executed differently. Instead of assembling it digitally using Photoshop, i think it would be more effective if shot as a single photo. This would really highlight the versatility of the wallet, and remove the ‘uncanny valley’ nature of the poster. This would mean I could use the logo physically, perhaps printing it to look like a bank note and clipping it into a wallet. This could help brand cohesiveness. I would also align the background to the angle of the wallets correctly.
Initial sketch of potetial second poster attempt Product As well as incorporating the technical improvement previously mentioned, i feel the wallet needs a quirky internal design to match the materials. Using inspiration from my original wallet concepts, I could use the split pocket from concept 1 instead of the money clip, which would allow for tickets,folded notes and coins to be used, as well as giving a funky triangular aesthetic to the inside of the wallet. As well as this, I feel that the brand could be included in the product. Embossing the logo into the frame or press branding it into the inside pockets could create a nice motif. Furthermore, working newer desserto materials would allow me to offer more colourways of nopal. I feel that this would increase overall appeal.
packaging
My packaging did not arrive in time for the initial hand in nor for the photoshoot for marketing materials, however it did arrive in time to send out to customers. It consisted of an outer card slide casing covering an inner card tray, which had an offcut of desserto knit stapled to it as a handle. This staple was the only fastener used in the entire construction. Covering the wallet was an information sheet with some details about nopal, as well as cleaning information. A small wrap-around piece was used to prominently display the HP, Autodesk and PDE collection logos whilst doubling as a tab to lever the wallet out of its housing. This was printed on recycled cardboard to minimise environmental impact. These information sheets worked well and looked inviting whilst professional. Overall I was in two minds about the packaging. With some refinement, i think this design would work well - especially reducing the height of
the casing in order to create an interference fit with the tray, creating more resistance for a more satisfying opening experience. As well as this, I thought the integration of the nopal material on the outside was a nice touch, as it provides a tactile element to the user’s first interaction with the product. However I was not the most impressed with either the laser cutting or the material choice. The laser left unsightly burn marks that needed to be manually wiped off with a rubber. This is tolerable for a batch of 5, however would be too labour intensive for continued manufacture. Die cutting and lithographic printing would be a solution for larger batch manufacture. As well as this, I could have used recycled card instead of white card on the outside of the packaging to bring the packaging more in line with the environmentally friendly ethos of the product.
thanks
Huge Thanks to: Hugh - organisation, general loveliness and exquisite HP wrangling. <3. Jen - comments & encouragement when I thought the project was a write-off. Maryam & HP Staff - a lot of $$$ worth of free 3D printing, delivered to my door. Ashleigh - Incredible help with manufacture, and use of sewing machine. My Mother - Lending of equiptment and endless encouragement Alice and Croxley Danes School Staff For use of their laser cutter for packaging manufacture.
I couldn’t have done this without you.
sorry Hugh.